Libertyville seeks mayor/paper carrier

Tuesday night, I was The Ledger’s third string reporter to cover the Libertyville City Council meeting.

I’m slow at taking notes, refuse to carry a tape recorder and type 25 words per minute when I get back to the office to write a story. I’m not sure if I’d hire myself.

My plus side is that I usually know something about what’s being discussed, the council members know me and I know them.

There’s a downside to that familiarity.

As soon as I walked into the meeting, I was asked if The Ledger is ever going to get nightly carrier delivery for Libertyville residents again.

About a year ago we were forced to put Ledgers in the mail because we had so much difficulty in finding a carrier to deliver the Libertyville route. Some readers plop down 75 cents at Gas and Goodies so they don’t have to wait for the next day’s mail delivery.

“It’s a hassle going to the store every night to buy one,” said councilman Bob Glass.

The irony about the whole delivery issue is that the city is now coming up empty in its search for a mayor.

Four-year mayor Michelle Stump didn’t run for re-election in November because she’s now holding down a full-time job outside of Libertyville. The top two write-in, vote-getters both declined the position.

City councilman and mayor pro-tem Rod Nelson is next in line and he’s reluctant to take any more time away from his electrician business.

In my memory of Fairfield politics, this year was the first time a write-in candidate won a city council seat because there were no declared candidates. Tony Hammes was sworn in as the 3rd Ward councilman Monday night.

In Libertyville, the council Tuesday twisted councilman Alan Love’s arm to accept a council appointment after he had chosen not to run for re-election last fall.

Nelson and others have tried at length to find someone willing to accept the mayor’s job without any luck.

“I’ve been turned down more times than I care to admit,” said Nelson Tuesday night.

I feel his pain.

I contacted the school and made dozens of phone calls to try and find a Ledger carrier in Libertyville. I stopped short of hanging around the Little League field looking for prospects.

So Tuesday night, after the council heard a maintenance report about muskrats clogging up a culvert, they asked Stump to stay on temporarily until someone eventually steps forward. She’ll let them know Monday.

The muskrats gave up their home and their lives.

“What we really need is a help wanted ad in The Ledger,” said one of the councilmen.

I thought part of the mayor’s job description might include daily delivery of newspapers. But that’s probably a long shot.